If Aaliyah thought having classes and tutoring sessions with Mr. Volkov would be a piece of cake after having those naughty dreams, then it was the biggest misunderstanding she had.
“Aaliyah, are you okay?” Volkov’s voice resounded near her, and she almost threw her notebook, startled.
“Hey, you okay?” Ashton placed his hand on her, making her smile at him.
“Yeah, I am fine,” Aaliyah said to both of them, not looking into Volkov’s eyes.
Seeing Ashton’s hand on Aaliyah’s as he intertwined his fingers with her, Volkov remembered how Aaliyah had placed her hand on his last night to check if he was real.
“Miss Gold, can I have a moment with you?” Volkov said after the class when he saw her going out with Ashton.
Seeing Ashton stopping at the door, Volkov gazed at him coldly.
“It will take a while,” Volkov crossed his arms on his chest, and Ashton threw a pitiful look at Aaliyah before leaving, making her shoot back a smile.
“Lock the door.” Volkov didn’t look at her as he turned around the assignment sheets to get the total count.
“You wanted to talk to me?” Aaliyah supported her weight from one foot to another, her heart increasing its pace slightly, and Volkov nodded before placing the assignment sheets aside.
With his gaze focused on Aaliyah, he leaned on the teacher’s bench before curling his index finger and motioning her to come to him.
Though Aaliyah was confused, she complied, stopping right in front of him.
“Mr. Volk -” the rest of the words stuck in her mouth when he held her right hand and pulled her towards him, grabbing her jaws from his free hand.
Looking straight into her eyes with his face only inches away from his, he roamed his gaze all over her face before smirking.
“You didn’t sleep again, did you? I told you, there would be punishment if I saw any dark circles, didn’t I?” Volkov’s breath fanned her face, making her feel hot again.
The dream of last night started replaying in her mind, and she gulped, her eyes shifting to his lips for a brief second.
“What kind of punishment?” She shocked herself with her bold voice, and Volkov raised his brows before pulling her closer between his legs.
“What kind of punishment do you expect, little Aaliyah?” He pinched her cheeks together, making her lips pucker, smiling at her duck face.
“It’s all up to you, sir,” Aaliyah whispered, her mouth feeling like it grew a mind of its own.
She didn’t know what the hell she was doing at the moment.
How could she say something like this so boldly? She was sure she wouldn’t have done it if she was sane.
His intoxicating smell was clouding her mind and playing with her emotions. Yes. That has to be the reason.
“Can I really do all I want to do?” Volkov’s mysterious words as he massaged her bottom lip, brought her out of her daze, and she looked at him flabbergasted.
“What do you -”
“Bring your lunch here,” Volkov said, his thumb grazing her lip sensually, and she found herself nodding mindlessly.
“Good girl,” Volkov nodded, walking back to his chair as if nothing happened, and when the haze of his intoxicating smell cleared, Aaliyah contemplated if she still needed to bring the lunch or not.
“I still don’t like repeating myself,” Volkov didn’t look at her this time, and she hurried out of the room.
“Hey, Aaliyah!” Ashton waved his hand as soon as she entered the canteen, and she sighed apologetically.
“You guys carry on without me. He wants me to bring my lunch there. Probably something about the assignment sheets,” Aaliyah made up the last part. It was good she was the teacher’s assistant, or it might’ve become questionable.
There is no way she would tell her friends what she has been feeling for Mr. Volkov and how every action of his was affecting her hormones.
“Isn’t it too much? He could’ve done it after lunch too. Is it a monarchy or something? At least let the girl have her lunch in peace,” Ashton scoffed, feeling pissed off, and Aaliyah placed her hand on his shoulder affectionately.
“Hey, don’t get upset. I know you care about me, but spoil your mood over something trivial. Let’s hope I can gain some good credits with the teachers. Mom doesn’t know about that stalker incident. Once she finds out, there would be no reason to stop me,” Aaliyah mumbled, and Ashton felt sad just thinking about it.
“Do your best. I don’t want to lose you,” Ashton mumbled before coughing.
“A good friend like you,” he quickly covered, and Aaliyah smiled.
“I don’t want to lose you either,” Aaliyah squeezed his shoulder, and Volkov, who entered the canteen to have some coffee, looked at the scene coldly before turning around and leaving with his coffee.
“What is going inside your head, Volkov?” Bryce asked as soon as Volkov entered his house, his gaze flickering to Samantha and Dimitri briefly.
“Is your student not with you today?” Dimitri raised his brows, and Samantha looked at him with a meaningful smile.
“She had a family emergency. Someone close to her mother died, and she had to leave. What brings you here? Why are you still crashing in my home when I gave you my Cornville mansion to stay in?” Volkov picked his cat and ruffled her fur adoringly.
“We talked to Benjamin,” Bryce said.
“He said we should talk to the leader. I tried my best to coax him. Your father interjected and said even if you are hiding behind this teacher facade, this is something you can’t run away from,” Bryce looked at Volkov cautiously, and he nodded.
“What else?”
“I have set the meeting in the Coastal ring,” Bryce tested the waters, and Volkov’s gaze immediately darkened.
“I hope this has nothing to do with my investment choices,” Volkov looked at him observantly, and seeing Bryce avoiding his gaze, Volkov placed his cat down before walking to his room.
“Volkov, stop. I know you are angry, but that was the perfect location -” Bryce couldn’t complete his words when Volkov slammed the door in his face, making him sigh.
“What are the chances he is already in a sour mood because of someone’s absence?” Dimitri commented when he saw his friend coming down with a dejected face.
“Do you mean it’s about Aaliyah? I bet you are right. Seriously, a leader shouldn’t fall in love like this if he can’t confess,” Bryce rolled his eyes, remembering last night when he saw Volkov and Aaliyah together, almost hugging. It was the first time he saw Volkov being so free with someone. Though Volkov was teasing the girl most of the time, anybody could see she had successfully created a space in his heart.
Maybe she had created that space on the first meeting, and that’s why he was risking everything for her by roaming so casually.
“Well, I could be wrong,” Dimitri commented vaguely, bringing Bryce out of his thoughts, and knowing what kind of man Dimitri was, he nodded.
“Are you guys talking about Aaliyah? What about her?” Samantha asked, walking towards the kitchen.
“What are your thoughts about her, Samantha? You are a girl. You must’ve felt what kind of girl she is,” Dimitri supported his face on his hand as he looked at her interestingly.
Mysterious and happy. These two things came to Samantha’s mind as soon as he asked her the question.
“What kind of girl is she? Someone who has the magical powers to make everyone feel good around her. The type who wouldn’t want to take advantage of you because she knows your weak points. She is the kind of woman who thinks about others before herself but doesn’t take disrespect. She would respect you until you lose it,” Samantha said, and Dimitri hummed.
Just like he had expected and observed. However, Samantha hasn’t seen the side of Aaliyah he has. The side that spies in the police station probably beats up some actors rendering them unconscious, and acts like a complete hooligan. Though what Samantha said was completely true, the troublemaker side of Aaliyah couldn’t be ignored either.
“Apart from her character, her appearance is mind-blowing, not to mention her curvy figure. Though her chest is big, they feel like soft tofu -” Everyone coughed at her choice of words, and Volkov, who was listening to her nonsense when he was walking down, covered her mouth.
“She is a girl. Do you have no sense of who you are talking to? Would you like someone objectifying your body in front of strangers?” Volkov looked at her coldly, and Samantha apologized.
“I am sorry, but what I said is true,” Samantha grinned, and Volkov sighed, shaking his head.
“What time is the meeting?” Volkov shifted his gaze to Dimitri, who nodded at Bryce.
“It’s around 8,” Bryce pressed his lips into a thin line, and Volkov rolled his eyes.
“You messed with my sleep yesterday, and you couldn’t let me have it today either. Are you sure you are my friends?” Volkov took the piece of cutlet on the table, his mind going back to how Aaliyah was stuffing her mouth with that sandwich as if it was the last food on earth.
After getting ready at 7, Volkov walked to the car. They didn’t need to go early, but since they were meeting a new gang, they wanted to ensure everything was alright.
As Volkov played with his phone in the back seat, he looked out of the window contemplating if he should message Benjamin about what was going on with the gang recently.
They never thought about collaborating with another gang. All the collaboration happened when the others came to them with a proposal. Was everything going alright?
His eyes were constantly roaming around the shops they were passing with the thoughts going in the back of his head. They were about to turn the corner to take the highway when a certain bike caught Volkov’s gaze.
“Hey! Isn’t this the same bike we saw -?” The rest of Dimitri’s words stuck in his mouth when Bryce shot him a glare.
Seriously. He already knows how much Volkov is infatuated with anything relating to Aaliyah. Aaliyah was also there when they saw this bike, so it was natural that Volkov would become curious about it. Bryce scoffed.
“Bryce, stop the car,” Volkov didn’t have to say twice, and Bryce stopped dejectedly. He knew something like this was coming the moment Dimitri mentioned the bike.
“You guys go and check if everything is alright. I’ll be there on time. I need to check if this is my student. It’s part of my job,” Volkov forced the last line, smirking at Dimitri, and Bryce huffed, not saying anything.
Bryce and Dimitri didn’t know that Volkov already suspected this bike belonged to Aaliyah because of her eagle key chain, but they felt annoyed that his teaching job always comes in between their missions these days.
“Sure,” Bryce and Dimitri stepped out of the car, and before they could say anything, Volkov sat and drove away, making them look at the departing car with swirling emotions.
“What are the chances that the bike belongs to Aaliyah?” Bryce mumbled absentmindedly.
“The chances are slim, but after seeing her recent activity, I wouldn’t be surprised. Though, I would say this is some badass work she did there. It looks good,” Dimitri nodded, making Bryce nod with a smile.
Aaliyah was seriously so different from her sister Katherine. If Bryce didn’t know, he would’ve never guessed they were from the same family.
Meanwhile, Aaliyah, who was riding crazy, noticed a car following her and couldn’t help but squint her brows.
She was sure only a few people knew about her bike. Who could it be? She shifted only three months ago. Then again, that stalker man was also able to find her.
Is it someone from the racing team who might’ve wanted to say hi after seeing her bike?
Aaliyah slowed down a bit to see if she could recognize the car or the person sitting inside. However, when nothing clicked on any memory, Aaliyah turned around the corners in the city swiftly.
She pulled her phone swiftly before speed-dialing Ashton.
“Hey, I need your help. You are in the Creame Ville cafe with your friends, fight?” Aaliyah asked before telling him what to do.
Volkov, on the other hand, had never felt such a surge before. It has been a long time since he has driven his car like this. The thrill of chasing the biker was igniting the fire inside him that had dimmed with laying low because of his job.
Moving his car around the corners like a racing game, Volkov followed the bike to the cliff before halting it with a loud screech, barely making it in time.
Stepping out of the car, he looked down the cliff before looking at the biker, who had also stopped a few steps away.
“What the hell are you doing, riding like this, Aali -?” Volkov didn’t complete his words as the minute the biker took off his helmet, he felt struck.
“Mr. Cooper?”
“Mr. Volkov? Why were you following me?” Ashton asked, equally surprised.
“Why were you riding the bike like this?” Volkov’s expression didn’t change, and Ashton scratched the back of his head, awkwardly smiling.
“Well, you see, I was trying to clear my mind. Please don’t tell my parents or anyone about it,” Ashton didn’t wait for his reply before starting the bike.
“I will be grateful to you,” Ashton shouted while riding away, and Volkov looked at the departing bike with an unreadable expression.
He was sure that Ashton wasn’t the guy riding the bike earlier. Though the jacket, helmet, gloves, jeans, and riding style were the same, there was still something that stood out. The rider was wearing heeled boots, unlike Ashton, who wore sneakers.
It was obvious the person changed in the middle somewhere, but when? He had been following him all the time, then when did this happen? Volkov slammed the door before driving to the venue of the meeting.
If he was right in his doubts, that girl was cunning to fool him like this. The more he observed her daily, the harder he was falling.